Pleasant Valley metes out punishment in fight

Thursday

Feb 26, 2009 at 12:01 AM

BRODHEADSVILLE — The three Pleasant Valley High School students charged in the brawl after a basketball game against Stroudsburg High School earlier this month apparently are no longer in school, but they still face criminal charges.

DAN BERRETT

BRODHEADSVILLE — The three Pleasant Valley High School students charged in the brawl after a basketball game against Stroudsburg High School earlier this month apparently are no longer in school, but they still face criminal charges.

The district and the students reached an agreement before a full expulsion hearing could be conducted Tuesday. Details of the students' agreement with the school were not made public, in accordance with federal law. The information released by the district and its lawyers has been vague, but the range of possible outcomes they described all involve the students leaving the school, either permanently or for an extended period.

Daniel Corveleyn, the district's solicitor, described Wednesday the outcomes of expulsion hearings, which can include permanent expulsion, expulsion for a period of time up to a year, or voluntary, permanent withdrawal from school by the student. In that case, the expectation is for no return, and if a student does return, the process would resume and expulsion proceedings could begin again. A parent and student also can enter into an agreement to be expelled.

The actions taken against the three students all fell within this range of options, Corveleyn said.

Brandon Reish, a lawyer representing Milan Meyers, 19, of Gilbert and an unnamed 17-year-old girl, both Pleasant Valley students whom police said were involved in the fight, characterized the resolution as "favorable" after it had been reached Tuesday. Reish is an attorney with the firm Cramer, Swetz & McManus of Stroudsburg.

An unnamed, 16-year-old Pleasant Valley student also was involved in the fight, according to police.

State code dictates that a formal hearing take place before expelling a student from school. The closed-door sessions occur in front of the district's school board or a committee of the board, which renders the decision on whether to expel.

Students can be represented by a lawyer at these hearings, if they or their families choose to pay for it. They also have the right to testify on their own behalf, and to know who the witnesses will be against them.

Students facing expulsion also can review copies of these witnesses' statements and affidavits, request that the witnesses appear in person, and cross-examine them.

Tuesday's hearing was to be opened up at the request of two of the Pleasant Valley students. But the hearing itself reportedly never took place because of the resolution reached between Reish's clients and the district.

The Feb. 6 fight left two Pleasant Valley security guards injured and one of the Stroudsburg players with a broken hand.

Six students, three from each school, face charges of riot, disorderly conduct, harassment, aggravated assault and simple assault.

Stroudsburg's students were suspended, said John Toleno, the district's superintendent.

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